JEFF EDELSTEIN: NJ Gov. Chris Christie isn't dead yet

Oh sure, his swagger is a little less swaggy and his strut is a little more wounded ducky, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — some four months after Bridgegate blew up in his face — is still standing.

It seemed like a political death blow in the hours, days, weeks and (ongoing) months after the scandal went wide. But Christie is still governor of New Jersey, still chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and still — wait for it — right in the mix for the Republican nomination for president in 2016.

“He can overcome this,” Dworkin said. “He’s a tremendously talented politician who’s not going to lay down. There’s no reason to think he can’t go out and be a major factor, if not the nominee, in the 2016 Republican primaries.”

Of course, there’s still a few hurdles for Christie to hop over (or run through). The ongoing state probe into Bridgegate, for one. Plus a Superstorm Sandy relief funds federal investigation.

But those are minor annoyances compared to the federal grand jury currently looking at what exactly happened in Fort Lee.

“That’s the big question right now: How does (U.S. Attorney Paul) Fishman handle this?” Dworkin said. “He’s the only person who can offer someone immunity, the only person who can threaten someone with prison.”

And while the proceedings of the grand jury aren’t made public, Esquire Magazine has reported, exclusively, that David Wildstein — the man at the center of the Fort Lee lane closings — has agreed to cooperate with the feds.

If true, is Wildstein falling on his sword in exchange for immunity? Or is he attempting to use his sword to go all “Game of Thrones” on Christie? Time will tell. Then there’s David Samson, and Bridget Kelly, and and and and …

But it’s my opinion — and has been my opinion from the beginning — if Christie’s telling the truth (or at least a version of the truth that doesn’t bite him in his ever-shrinking behind), by the time the 2016 GOP primaries roll around, Bridgegate will be 17th paragraph fodder in AP stories about Christie’s entrance into the race.

Bridgegate is a political scandal, to be sure, but really: It’s grown to mythic proportions for two reasons. One, because it’s painfully easy to understand. Lanes were closed as some form of political payback. This isn’t some high-finance chicanery, not some real estate deal with a million layers, no shell companies with five-letter stock symbols. This was just … some lanes were closed. If you’re human and currently alive, you can grasp the concept. The second reason? Because Christie’s enemies list is long.

“There’s the state Democrats, who are looking at a lame duck governor,” said Dworkin. “And the national Democrats, who have no desire to see Christie as popular as he was in November of 2013. And then there’s plenty of national Republicans who don’t want him to be the presidential nominee.”

Add it all together, and it’s a political nightmare for the man who was being begged to run for president by top Republicans back in 2012.

Of course, if Christie gets through Bridgegate without further disaster, if the Mastro report is proven correct, he’s no slam dunk for the GOP nomination. He’d still have to wade through the far-right of the party, people who see Christie as a liberal from the northeast. (I know. Right?)

Which is why — still, despite the stank of Bridgegate — Christie remains the most electable Republican on the table. (Settle down with the Jeb Bush talk. He’s not going to run. Mark it.)

But yes. Christie — by national Republican standards — isn’t some anti-gay, climate change denying, anti-immigrant, pro-gun wackalulu. He’s moderate on social issues (again, for a Republican) and coupled with his conservative fiscal bona fides, he seems to be — on paper — a pretty good fit for a pretty large chunk of the the country.

Is he a bully? Sure. Find me a successful politician who isn’t.

Does he engage in backroom shenanigans? I would hope so, because again: Find me a successful politician who doesn’t.

Is he dead yet? Not by a longshot.

Call me a Christie homer if you want, but unless the feds nail him — a legit possibility, to be sure — he’s going to skate on this.

We started with Mark Twain, we’ll end with his spiritual heir, Yogi Berra: It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.